Shards
by VanishRain
Summary: Short snippets from the life of Temperance Brennan. Some will be happy, some will be sad but every day we are able to learn things about ourselves, even if we are a best-selling, genius anthropologist.
1. Speechless

This might be sort of a different format than you are used to but if you haven't noticed I have disappeared frequently lately. Well, I have been writing my music and I cannot get the most recent melody out of my head. This may be sort of a mess but I hope you enjoy slices into the life of our favorite anthropologist.

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Her body ached with a passion that could split a woman in two. Splitting the strings that kept such a most rational, calculating woman in two shattered, empty lives… her heart and her mind. All it took was a taste and it was all over as quickly as it had begun. Not the plush, perfect lips that had resided in her mind for almost the last decade but slightly cracked and dry lips of flesh, blood and desire.

"Bones…" The word flowed from his lips in such soft honesty she couldn't help the curse building up deep inside. _Shit. Damnit. What have I done?_

She knew she had to open her eyes and face the reality of what she had just done but the longing that had been building for so long denied her every movement. Frozen, she couldn't help but replay the last ten seconds over and over in trepidation and excitement. She kissed him… on the lips… in her office and for all the Jeffersonian to see. Time had slowed in that split second that she risked it all and for what? Sulking back deep into the recesses of her rational Brennan cried the quietest, unmistakable plead of a frightened child begging for the comfort of a soft blanket and a loving arm.

For twenty years she had held back. Held it all in on the premise that showing any weakness, any lasting destruction from the abandonment of love would destroy any chance she had to be human. From that moment on she had carefully crafted a robotic life void of all things that could break the tough exterior of her mind, revealing a helpless child of just fifteen.

That was until she met a man. This man, her man, _the only man_.

The man standing before her, her partner, that she had just kissed with such abandon she was sure he could hear her heart break with every passing second.

"Bones…" The man's once strong voice shook, "Open your eyes…"

She opened her mouth to speak but it seemed the words were stuck. Out of all the times she was able to babble on and on with scientific certainty about anything just to give her mind time to process what had just happened, now more than ever she begged for just one chance. If ever there was a time to whip out those verbal skills, it was now but as the words came out in a rushed mumble she knew it was futile to even try. She could barely think, how was she even able to process any thought into actual words?

Even though _she_ had kissed _him_, he had left her speechless.

"… please" He pleaded, trailing his hand up her soft jaw line.

It took every muscle in her body but soon her eyes rolled open against his rough finger pads.

"So pretty." He almost gasped in amazement at the blues twinkling back at him. "So damn pretty."

He had seen her at her worst yet he was smiling a smile that barely fit his frame. She had tried to mask the loneliness and heartbreak for so long it had become a part of her. A part that was now swirling deep in the blues and greens bearing her soul but she couldn't help but stare into his brown pools of comfort, daring her not to look away.

She had shattered in his hands and instead of running like so many in her life had done before; he was in awe of the wretched being standing before him. She was feeble, horrible and despicable and he was in heart stopping awe.

In that moment she couldn't help but smile. Maybe being speechless wasn't such a bad thing after all.


	2. Mercy

She hadn't meant for the words to come out as they did but there she stood, unable to shake the deepening frown from his lips. It had all started innocently enough but before she knew it, she had struck a chord, the damage was done and he was gone. So there she stood, completely vulnerable and destroyed at the thought of losing best friend.

"Booth… I… I'm sorry." Brennan yelled out against the pitter patter of the nearly flooded streets.

A shadow flickered before her in the softly moon light causing her heart to soar yet quickly come crashing down to earth in such a wrecked destruction she was sure her feet were about to give in. She knew he was watching her, listening to every destructive word flow from her lips yet it was clear she was not being shown any mercy. She had done enough destruction for one night. He had given up.

Who knew that a discussion about their recent failures in the dating department would lead to her standing in front of his window begging to just explain? Did he not know how hard it was for her to wake up every morning and pretend to care for a man that was not him? It was not like she had chosen this route. He was the one who left her with no other options than to try to be happy with a man that was just good enough yet secretly pine for the man who was perfection. If she had to do it all over again, she would have made it clear that this unshakable destruction was not something she could stand but now, here, in her taunting reality she had to live with the hallowing of her soul. Sure, at first it was much easier to play pretend while he slowly replaced her with other women, better women, but that was six months ago. Six months of regret and lonely nights crying herself to sleep.

Six horrible months cumulating in six short words that led to the unraveling of the only thing that ever meant anything to the tear drenched woman of these streets. Just a few short months, half a year was all it took for a most rational woman to snap in such a sharp, self-professing plead.

"She could not possibly love you." The words came out in an abrupt, rash grunt. '_No woman could love you as much as I do_' her mind quickly followed as her teeth gritted shut in pure terror. Her mind screamed _no, oh God no_ but the words kept flowing until it was too late. The heart shattering frown firmly affixed to his face had affirmed her worst fears. It wasn't that he was not capable of love; there was just no woman out there that could love him as much as she did. He had to know what she meant… after all these years, he just had to.

"Oh." Was all he said before throwing bills down on the table. Her eyes looked up just in time to see him glance back once more before leaving, tears fighting to find their way out. If he had given her just a minute, just a sentence to explain herself she was sure this whole misunderstanding would be cleared up, like all others.

As their eyes met, Brennan knew this was different and would never just be… like the others. He was different. The once warm, brown pools had all but vanished, leaving behind jet black balls of torment. The months were taking a toll on him, it was clear to see now, now that it was too late.

"Booth!" Brennan called out as the shadow passed before the window once again, "I… I…" She stuttered, trying to collect her thoughts before it faded once again but as she took a sharp breath the room quickly darkened, void of his existence.

It had been hours and Brennan was where she had started. Unable to do more than mumble a few incoherent syllables before the man she loved would disappear back into the safety of the shadows. The sun now slowly crept up, casting light on the torn and wretched woman as she lay on her lover's steps unable to just give up. Her light snoring calling out to a man who was much more than a figment of her imagination now. The man she once knew had died, it was clear now yet the off-beat murmurs of a broken woman hoped to do the impossible and bring that man back to life.

"Bones?" A voice squeaked as it knelt beside the crumbling mess.

"Booth… I…" She dryly rasped, unable to gather the strength to much more than collapse further against the pavement.

"I know… I know…" The man lightly soothed. The woman was a cold, damp, shattered mess. It was clear even to the rational the depth of his partner's feelings.

And for the first time in months, he truly smiled. Maybe he was capable of love after all.


End file.
